Japan, Sea ofJapanese Nihon-kai, Russian Yaponskoye More, Korean Tonghaeor Donghaemarginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded by Japan and Sakhalin Island to the east and by Russia and Korea on the Asian mainland to the west. (The Korean name means “East Sea.”) Its area is 377,600 square miles (978,000 square kilometres). It has a mean depth of 5,748 feet (1,752 metres) and a maximum depth of 12,276 feet (3,742 metres).

Physical features

Physiography

The sea is almost elliptical, having its major axis from southwest to northeast. To the north it is approximately bounded by latitude 51°45′ N, while to the south it is bounded by a line drawn from the Japanese island of Kyushu westward through the Gotō Islands of Japan to the South Korean island of Cheju and then northward to the Korean Peninsula.

The sea itself lies in a deep basin, separated from the East China Sea to the south by the Tsushima and Korea straits and from the Sea of Okhotsk to the north by the La Perouse (or Sōya) and Tatar straits. To the east it is also connected with the Inland Sea of Japan by the Kanmon Strait and to the Pacific by the Tsugaru Strait.

The Sea of Japan is a classic semienclosed sea, since its connections with adjacent bodies of water are greatly restricted by the narrow straits. Inflow of water takes place primarily through the eastern and western channels of the Korea Strait; the inflow of water into the Sea of Japan through the narrow and shallow Tatar Strait is negligible, while through the Tsugaru and La Perouse straits the water flows out of the Sea of Japan.

Underwater the sea is separated into the Japan Basin to the north, the Yamato Basin to the southeast, and the Tsushima Basin to the southwest. While a narrow continental shelf fringes Siberia and the Korean Peninsula, on the Japanese side of the sea there are wider continental shelves, as well as groups of banks, troughs, and basins lying offshore. The banks lying off the coasts of Japan are divided into groups, which include Okujiri Ridge, Sado Ridge, Hakusan Banks, Wakasa Ridge, and Oki Ridge.

Geology

Yamato Ridge consists of granite, rhyolite, andesite, and basalt, with boulders of volcanic rock scattered on the seabed. Geophysical investigation has revealed that, while the ridge is of continental origin, the Japan Basin and the Yamato Basin are of oceanic origin.

Bottom deposits in the Sea of Japan indicate that sediments of continental origin, such as mud, sand, gravel, and fragments of rock, exist down to depths of 650 to 1,000 feet; hemipelagic sediments (i.e., half of oceanic origin), mainly consisting of blue mud rich in organic matter, are found down to depths of about 1,000 to 2,600 feet; and deeper pelagic sediments, consisting of red mud, are found down to the sea’s greatest depths.

The four straits connecting the sea either to the Pacific Ocean or to marginal seas were formed in recent geologic periods. The oldest of these are the Tsugaru and Tsushima straits, the formation of which interrupted the migration of elephants into the Japanese islands at the end of the Neogene Period (about 2.6 million years ago); the most recent is La Perouse Strait, which was formed about 60,000 to 11,000 years ago and which closed the route used by the mammoths whose fossils have been found in Hokkaido.

Climate

The Sea of Japan influences the climate of Japan because of its relatively warm waters; evaporation is especially noticeable in winter, when an enormous quantity of water vapour rises in the region between the cold, dry polar air mass and the warm, moist tropical air mass. From December to March the prevailing northwest monsoon wind carries cold and dry continental polar air masses over the warmer waters of the sea, resulting in snow along the mountainous western coasts of Japan. In summer the southerly tropical monsoon blows from the North Pacific onto the Asian mainland, causing dense fog when its warm and moist winds blow over the cold currents that prevail over the northern part of the sea at that season. The winter monsoon brings rough seas and causes coastal erosion along the western coasts of Japan.

The northern part of the sea, especially off the Siberian coast as well as in the Tatar Strait, freezes in winter; as a result of convection, melted ice feeds the cold currents in that part of the sea in spring and summer.

Hydrology

The waters of the sea generally circulate in a counterclockwise pattern. A branch of the Kuroshio (Japan Current), the Tsushima Current, together with its northern branch, the East Korea Warm Current, flows north, bringing warmer and more saline water before flowing into the Pacific through the Tsugaru Strait as the Tsugaru Current, as well as into the Sea of Okhotsk through the La Perouse Strait as the Sōya Current. Along the coast of the Asian mainland three cold currents—the Liman, North Korea, and Central (or Mid-) Japan Sea cold currents—bring cooler, relatively fresh water southward.

The enclosed nature of the Sea of Japan and its three deep basins facilitate the formation of distinct water masses. In the summer months, when the surface is heated by higher air temperatures, a distinct thermocline separates the surface water from the middle water, which is characterized by relatively high temperatures and salinities. The middle water’s origin is in the intermediate water layers of the Kuroshio off the coast of Kyushu that enter the Sea of Japan via the Tsushima Current during the winter and spring. A third water mass, the deep water, forms in February and March by the cooling of the water surface in the northern part of the sea; it is of very uniform character, with temperatures ranging narrowly between 32° and 33° F (0° and 0.5° C). The formation of these water masses, particularly the middle water, influences the concentration of dissolved oxygen, which is generally very high; and this contributes to the productive fisheries of the sea.

Economic aspects

Fisheries and mineral deposits form the main economic resources of the Sea of Japan. Pelagic (oceanic) fishes include mackerel, horse mackerel, sardines, anchovies, herring, fishes of the salmon and trout family, sea bream, and squid; the demersal (sea-bottom) category includes cod, Alaskan pollack (bluefish), and Atka mackerel. Seals and whales are also to be found, as well as such crustaceans as shrimps and crabs. The fishing grounds are for the most part on the continental shelves and their adjacent waters.

Herring, sardines, and bluefin tuna have traditionally been caught, but since World War II the fisheries have gradually been depleted. Squid fishing is carried on in the central part of the sea, salmon fishing in the shoal areas of the north and southwest, and crustacean trapping in the deeper parts. The sea is heavily fished by fleets from Japan, Russia, and North and South Korea.

Mineral resources on or in the sea bottom include magnetite sands as well as natural gas and petroleum deposits off Japan and Sakhalin Island.

Trade across the Sea of Japan is only moderate, since most of Japan’s trade is with countries not bordering the sea. Consequently, the most important Japanese ports are located on its Pacific coast. Important ports of South Korea are Pusan, Ulsan, and P’ohang, located on the southeast coast of the country, but most of the shipping in and out of these ports is also destined for countries not bordering the sea. Primary Russian ports are Vladivostok, Nakhodka, and Vostochny. Vladivostok’s traffic is primarily with other Russian ports, while Nakhodka and Vostochny are international ports. Trade between countries around the sea, however, has increased, spurred by the growth of the South Korean economy and by the development of trade agreements with Russia.

Study and exploration

The waters of the Sea of Japan have been traveled for centuries, and historically they have served to protect Japan from foreign invasions. European exploration in the region began in the 18th century. In the 1780s in one of the first voyages both to search for new trade opportunities and to collect scientific data, the Frenchman Jean-François de Galaup, Count de La Pérouse, traveled northward through the Sea of Japan and the strait that was named for him. Robert Broughton in 1796 also combined exploration with science on his track through the Tatar Strait and then south along the coast of the Russian Far East and around the Korean Peninsula.

Other Russian voyages include those of Adam Johann Krusenstern in the Nadezhda, who explored the sea (1803–06) during his circumnavigation of the globe; the Pallada (1853–54), which monitored surface temperatures and made tidal observations; and the Vityaz (1886–89), which added to oceanographic knowledge of the sea. Also of note are the American North Pacific Exploring (1853–54) and British Challenger (1872–76) expeditions.

Major research cruises by Japan began in 1928 and continued until the start of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937. After World War II the American Challenger seismic study of the sea (1951) and the work of the Baird added to scientific knowledge and stimulated Japan to reinstitute exploration and research. Most of the current oceanographic work in the sea is characterized by the use of advanced technology, by international cooperation, and by a variety of research projects.